Afternoon Drive: CU hoops legend Billups heading back to Pistons

16-year veteran taking on mentoring role in Detroit

Chauncey Billups shoots against the Boston Celtics during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals in Auburn Hills, Mich., in 2008. The Pistons have decided to bring back Billups. Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars confirmed the move Thursday morning. (AP)

1. Chauncey Billups

Finally, Mr. Big Shot has come back to Detroit. Colorado men's basketball legend Chauncey Billups and the Pistons have agreed to a two-year contract worth $5M.

Billups played for Detroit from 2002-08 and the Pistons won a championship in 2004 with the former Buff taking home the Finals MVP. It's unlikely, but possible, that Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars gets the whole band back together; Ben Wallace and Richard Hamilton are free agents and technical mastermind Rasheed Wallace is returning to the team as an assistant coach.

The 36-year-old Billups will join Detroit primarily as a mentor for third-year guard Brandon Knight and No. 8 pick Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a pure scorer who could one day be a star in the league. Billups missed 60 games last season due to nagging injuries, but he was the NBA's inaugural Teammate of the Year.

The 16-year veteran has said he wants to play two more seasons and will get the chance to close out his run in the town he won a ring for. Billups has averaged 15.4 points and 5.5 assists per game over his lengthy career and will some day be enshrined in the NBA Hall of Fame.

Advertisement

2. Cool ring

Former Florida State offensive lineman Menelik Watson finally got his Atlantic Coast Conference football championship ring. Only there's one problem, it says SEC. If you'll take a quick look at your ever-changing conference alignment cheat sheet, the Seminoles are in the ACC.

Watson entered the draft as a junior and was selected by the Oakland Raiders with the 42nd pick in the second round. He's being a good sport about the goof.

"I couldn't believe it when I opened up the package," Watson said. "I feel privileged, and I feel slighted at the same time, but hey, I'm one in a million. I guess the ring guy was making too many and either fell asleep at the machine or he must be an SEC fan. Somebody's got some 'splainin' to do. It's really nice. It just says SEC on it."

4. CU recruiting ranks

Colorado football's 2014 ranking among the recruiting sites is holding steady after the Buffs brought in their eighth commitment with Aurora safety Evan White. 247sports.com has the Buffs at No. 64 in the country (up 18 spots) and eighth in the Pac-12 (up three sports). Rivals has CU at No. 70 nationally and ninth in the Pac-12 while Scout pegs the Buffs at No. 65 and also ninth in the conference. Obviously, there's still plenty of work to be done on the recruiting trail.

5. Video games

If simulations of the NCAA 14 college football video game are accurate, the Buffs will finish the 2013 season with more wins than they had in 2012. CBS Sports' sim has Colorado going 3-9, but take this one with a grain of salt, it also has Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez winning the Heisman. Bleacher Report is even kinder with CU's record at 5-7. Let's hope the Bleacher Report simulation pans out in real life.

New coordinator pushes Buffs to work, play at level he expectsJim Leavitt has discovered this much about his new defense at Colorado: He has some talent with which to work, but his players need to put it in another gear. Full Story

New coordinator pushes Buffs to work, play at level he expectsJim Leavitt has discovered this much about his new defense at Colorado: He has some talent with which to work, but his players need to put it in another gear. Full Story